


All The Single Ladies

by vexxedBereavement



Category: Homestuck
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Based on a Beyoncé Knowles Song, Fluff, Humanstuck, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, POV Alternating, POV Dave Strider, POV Karkat Vantas, POV Second Person, Wish me luck, dave and rose just met and weren’t online friends, except its 3+1, karkat likes beyoncé, no beta we die like candy!dave, supposedly, this is my first multichap fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 17:21:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29493486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vexxedBereavement/pseuds/vexxedBereavement
Summary: “That’s so...lame.” You say, gesturing with your right hand as your left clutches your bag.“Lame? That’s the only insult you can think off?” He gives you an unimpressed look. Strangely enough, you feel kinda bad for disappointing him.“It‘s the only insult that’s accurate, bro.” you say, shooting a pair of shy finger guns at him.“First of all, i’m not your ‘bro’. Don’t call me that. Second of all, what could possibly be lame about Beyoncé?”—Or, 3 times Dave and Karkat ride the bus, and one time they walk.
Relationships: Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas
Comments: 6
Kudos: 15





	All The Single Ladies

**Author's Note:**

> Hey hey everyone!! sorry for not posting in such a long time, school has been busy. i wish i could say i’ve been working on stuff but i really haven’t! 
> 
> but!! i do have this fic for you!! it’s my first multichap fic be proud. it won’t be very long, but i hope you enjoy. 
> 
> CONTENT WARNING: Implied Child Abuse 
> 
> also a note for this au: dave and rose were never online friends. they just met a couple months ago after dave’s bro got arrested for child abuse. dave has recently moved to new york to live with mom lalonde and rose. he’s been going to school for a few weeks now. all of the beta trolls go to this school but john and jade do not. 
> 
> enjoy!! all chapter titles and the mail title of the fic are from All the Single Ladies by Beyoncé

The bus wobbles and jerks, flopping you and your seat-mate every which way.

You bite your lip and hug your backpack closer to you. Everyday, on the bus, you always take your bag off and set it in your lap for maximum comfort. Your bag is an old thing, tattered and worn, the red that was once bright now faded. Your brother (dad?) got it for you back when you still lived with him in Texas. Now that you’re in New York with your sister, things are a lot different, but you still sit on the bus the same way. 

“ _ FUCK _ !”

You turn to the boy sitting next to you, startled. You had forgotten you were sitting next to someone. 

“Dude, chill.” You whisper. That’s something you’re working on. You’re still pretty bad at talking at an audible level. 

“I’ll ‘chill’, when this old fuck starts driving properly!” He says, a modicum quieter. Jesus, this dude needs to calm down. 

You dont say anything more, just turn your head back to looking out the window so you can space out again. 

Since your house is a giant mansion in the middle of a random forrest, the ride to school is pretty long. You’ve been on the bus for about twenty minutes, and you still have a good chunk of time left to go. 

You sort of wish you had sat next to Rose. At least then, you’d have someone to talk to, even if your conversation would be incredibly awkward. (Apparently, being long-lost siblings with someone doesn’t automatically make you best friends. Who knew? Certainly not the author of every story with the exact same plot. Definitely not.) 

To distract yourself from your suddenly-way-too-serious thoughts, you focus on the radio. It’s been playing softly in the background the entire time, but you hadn’t cared enough to pay any attention to it. Suddenly, you are incredibly grateful for the fact that it’s playing. You don’t like thinking about Rose too much. The entire situation just feels way too strange for you to really grasp it properly. You had been just fine believing that your dad was your brother and that you no other living relatives, but she had to go and fuck it all up. 

You know your being unfair. This situation is probably—definitely—just as weird for her as it is for you. It’s just easier to deal with if you have someone to blame. 

_ Focus on the radio _ , you think.  _ Rose can wait till later. Or preferably, never.  _

Just as your mind gains focus once again, a familiar tune starts to filter through the bus. The bombastic vocals, the snappy lyrics, the catchy beat, all of it intimately familiar to you. 

Single Ladies, by the one and only Beyoncé. 

You can’t help the small ironic grin that spreads across your face. This song is just...so good. It almost brings a gay-ass tear to your equally gay face. 

You obviously mean this ironically, as genuinely liking the song would be all loads of homo, and despite the previous paragraphs implications, that is something you definitely aren’t. 

But despite all that, the song still brings you the smallest bit of comfort. It’s familiar. You remember one summer, your brother—dad? brother? Dirk? Dirk— _ Dirk _ had played the song nonstop. Every time you entered the living room/kitchen of the apartment, you’d be bombarded with the sweet sweet sound of Beyoncé’s voice. It was great. 

(You try to forget the fact that at first you had hated it. Viscerally. And that you begged Dirk for days to turn it off, and that each time you asked, he’d turn the volume up by a notch. You try to forget that he decked you the first time you showed a little desperation in your pleading. You try to forget that the day after he hit you was the day you decided you—ironically, of course—liked the song. You try to forget, but you don’t.)

Your reminiscing is interrupted by a voice. Well, a voice other than Queen B’s. It takes you a second to figure out that the sound is coming from none other than your seat-buddy. 

He’s whispering along to the song, his voice raspy and...strangely nice. In an odd, not quite enjoyable but nowhere close to annoying way. Still, you can’t pass up the opportunity to make fun of him. 

“Dude, are you seriously singing along.” 

He looks over to you. He skin is dark. Not as dark as yours, but it’s close. His hair is practically black, and an absolute mess. Has this guy never heard of a brush? 

“Yeah? So what?” 

“That’s so...lame.” You say, gesturing with your right hand as your left clutches your bag. 

“Lame? That’s the only insult you can think off?” He gives you an unimpressed look. Strangely enough, you feel kinda bad for disappointing him. 

“It‘s the only insult that’s accurate, bro.” you say, shooting a pair of shy finger guns at him. 

“First of all, i’m not your ‘bro’. Don’t call me that. Second of all, what could  _ possibly _ be lame about Beyoncé?”

“Just...everything.” You say with a shrug. You have more you want to say but your actually pretty bad at talking to people in real life. Online it’s easy. You can say whatever you want, rant on and on and on. But whenever your face to face with another person, you always choke up. 

“I don’t even know who the fuck you are, why should I listen to you?” The boy says with a put-upon expression on his face. His thick brows are pinched together, forming wrinkles. He looks a little bit like a confused puppy.

Introductions. Those are pretty easy. 

“Dave. Dave Strider.” You stick your hand out. He does not take it. 

“Okay...Dave. Wait aren’t you Rose Lalonde’s long lost brother or something?” 

“Yeah actually.” you say, “Are you friends with her or something?”

The dude looks at you for a split second, before barking out a laugh. 

“No. No no no! Rose is fine and all but just...no.  _ No _ , i’m uh...friends with her girlfriend,Kanaya. Uh, Maryam.” Judging by his facial expressions, he only realized he practically called your sister a bitch to your face until after he said it.

You didn’t know Rose had a girlfriend. Hell, you didn’t know Rose was gay. But,looking back it was kinda obvious. 

You are suddenly hit with the realization that you don’t know much about Rose at all. You are simultaneously hit with the realization that you don’t know the name of the person sitting next to you. 

“Hey, I don’t know who the fuck you are either. You got a name, Mr. Single Ladies?” You ask with a raised brow. The boy looks at you with some kind of disgust, likely at the nickname, but answers anyway.

“Karkat Vantas.” He gives you a look as if challenging you to ask about the weird name. You decide not to. 

“Well, Karkat Vantas, we have about 20 more minutes on this bus from hell. Wanna play 20 questions with lil old me?” 

Karkat looks pained, but concedes. 

The next fifteen minutes pass in a flash. You find out that Karkat is actually really funny. He’s kinda shouty, and rude as hell, but he’s a refreshing kind of blunt, and you get the feeling that he’s actually a pretty nice guy underneath all the grump and posturing. 

Soon, it’s your turn, for the final question, and the bus is pulling into the school parking lot.

“Do you wanna sit together again some time? 

Karkat looks at you, squints, and then shakes his head. 

“I guess that wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.” He says, and you think you see him smiling from the corner of your eye. 

You think you just made a friend. 

_ Fuck yeah.  _

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! i hope you liked it! please leave a comment/kudos if you did.


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